GM to tap OnStar system to rescue kids in cars

Jim Mateja, Tribune auto reporterCHICAGO TRIBUNE

General Motors unveiled plans Thursday to offer a low-energy radar sensor beginning in the 2004 model year, if not sooner, that will sound a warning when a child has been left in a closed vehicle at dangerously high temperatures.

Harry Pearce, vice chairman of GM and its chief safety spokesman, said the radar sensor detects heat buildup and motion to set off a series of horn chirps as an alert that a child is inside. The system also will warn of a pet left in a car.

Eventually the radar sensor will be linked to GM's OnStar emergency communications system to summon rescue authorities when a child has been left in a car and temperatures reach the danger point, just as it now summons medical help if an air bag is deployed.

Pearce said the system, which detects human motion as slight as a baby breathing in the back seat, someday also would be able to detect a stranger lurking in a parked car and sound an alarm before the motorist entered the vehicle.

The system probably will be offered first on mini-vans, but eventually would be standard equipment in all GM vehicles, Pearce said.

In a closed vehicle parked in 95-degree temperatures, the passenger cabin can reach 150 degrees within 20 minutes, Pearce said. The GM system will start signaling of overheating at about 100 degrees.

In the last five years, at least 120 children have died after being trapped in hot vehicles, GM said.